A small family of prepositions takes the instrumental to describe where something is located in space — above, below, in front of, behind, between, beside. These are the prepositions of static position: над столо́м (above the table), под крова́тью (under the bed), за угло́м (round the corner). The headline complication — and the thing English speakers consistently miss — is that two of them, за and под, switch to a different case (the accusative) when the meaning changes from where something is to where something is going. Russian encodes the location-versus-destination distinction in the case ending, not in the preposition, so the same word за means "behind" in both за до́мом and за дом, but the first is a place and the second is a direction.
The six location prepositions
All of these take the instrumental for static position. The instrumental forms themselves (столо́м, крова́тью, до́мом, на́ми) are covered on the instrumental forms page.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example (instrumental) |
|---|---|---|
| над / на́до | above, over | над столо́м (above the table) |
| под / по́до | under, below | под крова́тью (under the bed) |
| пе́ред / пе́редо | in front of, before | пе́ред до́мом (in front of the house) |
| за | behind, beyond | за угло́м (round the corner) |
| ме́жду | between | ме́жду на́ми (between us) |
| ря́дом с | next to, beside | ря́дом с шко́лой (next to the school) |
Над столо́м виси́т ста́рая ла́мпа.
An old lamp hangs above the table. — стол → над столо́м, static location.
Ко́шка спит под крова́тью.
The cat is sleeping under the bed. — крова́ть (fem. -ь) → под крова́тью, the special -ью form.
Маши́на стои́т пе́ред до́мом.
The car is parked in front of the house. — дом → пе́ред до́мом.
Апте́ка пря́мо за угло́м.
The pharmacy is right round the corner. — у́гол → за угло́м (the fleeting -о- drops out).
ме́жду and ря́дом с
Ме́жду ("between") takes the instrumental for both ends of the relation: ме́жду на́ми ("between us"), ме́жду до́мом и шко́лой ("between the house and the school"). Ря́дом с ("next to") is built on the preposition с, so it carries the instrumental government of с — ря́дом с ба́нком, not *ря́дом ба́нка.
Э́то оста́нется ме́жду на́ми.
This will stay between us. — мы → ме́жду на́ми, also a set phrase ('our secret').
Поста́вь стул ме́жду окно́м и шка́фом.
Put the chair between the window and the wardrobe. — both nouns in the instrumental.
Он сиди́т ря́дом со мной.
He's sitting next to me. — ря́дом с + мной (со before the cluster).
The case switch: location (instrumental) vs motion-to (accusative)
This is the heart of the page. The prepositions за and под belong to a special group that governs two cases:
- Instrumental → answers где? (where?) — a static position, "is located behind / under."
- Accusative → answers куда? (where to?) — a destination, "moving to behind / under."
So the preposition stays the same and the case ending flips. The cat that is under the table is под столо́м (instrumental); the cat that runs under the table goes под стол (accusative).
| Meaning | Question | Case | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| location (is under) | где? | instrumental | Кот под столо́м. |
| motion-to (goes under) | куда? | accusative | Кот побежа́л под стол. |
| location (is behind) | где? | instrumental | Маши́на за до́мом. |
| motion-to (goes behind) | куда? | accusative | Он заверну́л за дом. |
Кот спит под столо́м.
The cat is sleeping under the table. — где? → instrumental под столо́м (location).
Кот побежа́л под стол.
The cat ran under the table. — куда? → accusative под стол (destination).
Маши́на стои́т за до́мом.
The car is parked behind the house. — где? → instrumental за до́мом.
Он заверну́л за дом и исче́з.
He turned behind the house and disappeared. — куда? → accusative за дом (motion).
The accusative-of-motion counterparts of these prepositions are detailed on accusative prepositions: через, про, за, под (motion), and the whole location-versus-motion system across all the case-switching prepositions is summarised on motion vs location.
The "at the table" idiom: за столо́м vs за стол
The verb of motion is not always obvious, which is where learners get caught. За + instrumental also means "at" a place where an activity happens — за столо́м ("at the table," i.e. eating or sitting), за рулём ("at the wheel, driving"), за рабо́той ("at work, busy working"). The matching accusative за + accusative marks sitting down to that activity: сесть за стол ("sit down at the table"), сесть за руль ("get behind the wheel").
Вся семья́ сиде́ла за столо́м.
The whole family was sitting at the table. — за столо́м (instr), the static 'at table' idiom.
Сади́тесь за стол, обе́д гото́в!
Sit down to the table, lunch is ready! — за стол (acc), motion to the table.
Не разгова́ривай по телефо́ну за рулём.
Don't talk on the phone while driving. — за рулём (instr) = 'at the wheel, driving'.
Why the instrumental for "where," and the accusative for "where to"
It is worth pausing on the logic, because once you feel it you stop guessing. The instrumental is, at root, the case of the circumstances surrounding an action — the by, the with, the alongside. A static spatial relation is exactly that: the table is simply there, above which the lamp hangs; nothing moves, nothing is a target. The accusative, by contrast, is the case of the direct goal of an action — what the verb reaches out and affects. When you put the box under the table or run behind the house, the under-the-table and behind-the-house are the endpoint the motion reaches, so Russian reaches for the goal-marking accusative. This is the same instrumental-versus-accusative split that distinguishes a state from an action throughout the language; the spatial prepositions just make it visible in one neat pair of forms. So you are never really memorizing an arbitrary rule — you are asking whether the place is a setting (instrumental) or a destination (accusative).
A note on над, пе́ред, ме́жду, ря́дом с
Unlike за and под, the prepositions над, пе́ред, ме́жду and ря́дом с take only the instrumental — they have no accusative-motion counterpart. You don't move "to above" the table with над; you'd use a different construction (for instance, a verb like подня́ть, "to lift," plus a separate goal). So for this group you never have to choose a case at all: it is always instrumental, in both static descriptions and dynamic scenes. This is a small mercy — only за and под force the location-versus-destination decision on you.
Самолёт лети́т над го́родом.
The plane is flying over the city. — над + instrumental го́родом (над has no accusative alternative).
Пе́редо мной откры́лся прекра́сный вид.
A beautiful view opened up before me. — пе́редо мной, instrumental only.
Common Mistakes
❌ Кот побежа́л под столо́м.
Incorrect for motion — running TO under the table is the destination, so accusative: под стол.
✅ Кот побежа́л под стол.
The cat ran under the table. — accusative под стол (куда?).
❌ Маши́на стои́т за дом.
Incorrect for location — 'is parked behind' is static, so instrumental: за до́мом.
✅ Маши́на стои́т за до́мом.
The car is parked behind the house. — instrumental за до́мом (где?).
❌ Он сиди́т ря́дом мной.
Incorrect — ря́дом с requires the preposition с (and со before clusters): ря́дом со мной.
✅ Он сиди́т ря́дом со мной.
He's sitting next to me. — ря́дом со мной.
❌ Э́то ме́жду нас.
Incorrect — ме́жду takes the instrumental, not the genitive: ме́жду на́ми.
✅ Э́то оста́нется ме́жду на́ми.
This stays between us. — ме́жду + instrumental на́ми.
❌ Сади́тесь за столо́м, обе́д гото́в!
Incorrect — sitting DOWN to the table is motion, so accusative: за стол.
✅ Сади́тесь за стол, обе́д гото́в!
Sit down to the table, lunch is ready! — accusative за стол.
Key Takeaways
- над, под, пе́ред, за, ме́жду, ря́дом с
- instrumental describe static location: над столо́м, под крова́тью, пе́ред до́мом, за угло́м, ме́жду на́ми, ря́дом со шко́лой.
- за and под switch to the accusative for motion-to: под столо́м (is under) vs под стол (goes under); за до́мом (is behind) vs за дом (goes behind). The case, not the preposition, encodes location vs destination.
- The "at" idiom: за столо́м (instr) = sitting/eating/working at; за стол (acc) = sitting down to. Same with за рулём / за руль.
- над, пе́ред, ме́жду, ря́дом с take only the instrumental — no case choice to make.
- Buffer forms before мной: на́до мной, по́до мной, пе́редо мной, and ря́дом со мной.
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- Instrumental: FormsA2 — The instrumental (твори́тельный паде́ж) endings. Singular: masc/neuter -ом/-ем (столо́м, окно́м, мо́рем), feminine -ой/-ей (кни́гой, неде́лей) and the special feminine -ь → -ью (но́чью, две́рью). Plural: -ами/-ями for everyone (стола́ми, дверя́ми), with irregular людьми́, детьми́. The choice of -ом vs -ем turns on the spelling rule and stress.
- Instrumental Prepositions: с, над, под, перед, междуA2 — Five prepositions take the instrumental: с/со ('with'), над ('above'), под ('under' — location), пе́ред ('in front of, before'), and ме́жду ('between'). За + instrumental ('behind, at') and ря́дом с ('next to') belong here too. The key contrast: за and под mean LOCATION with the instrumental but MOTION with the accusative.
- Accusative Prepositions: через, про, за, под (motion)A2 — A small set of prepositions governs the accusative: че́рез ('across, through, in [an interval]'), про ('about', colloquial), сквозь ('through'), о ('against'), plus the motion senses of за ('to behind') and под ('to under'). Че́рез — not в — is how Russian says 'in an hour'.
- Motion vs Location: The Case-Switching PrepositionsA2 — Four everyday prepositions — в, на, за, под — each take two cases, and the case answers one question: are you moving TO a place (motion) or already AT it (location)? Motion-to always takes the accusative (в шко́лу, на рабо́ту, за стол, под стол); location takes the prepositional for в/на (в шко́ле, на рабо́те) and the instrumental for за/под (за столо́м, под столо́м). The verb's directionality picks the case, and the 'from' direction is из/с + genitive.
- Accusative After Prepositions (в, на, за, под, через, про)A2 — The accusative is the case of DESTINATION and DURATION after prepositions: в/на/за/под switch to the accusative the moment there is motion toward a place (иду́ в шко́лу, кладу́ под стол), paired against their prepositional/instrumental location forms (я в шко́ле); plus through/across/in-a-time че́рез + acc (че́рез мост, че́рез час), the barrier-piercing сквозь, the colloquial 'about' про, and о/об in the sense of 'against' (уда́риться о ка́мень).
- Instrumental with С (Together With)A2 — The preposition с/со + instrumental means 'together with, accompanied by, having' — ко́фе с молоко́м, иду́ с дру́гом, мы с бра́том ('my brother and I'). It is ONLY for accompaniment and ingredients, never for tools (those take the bare instrumental). Watch the trap: the same с + genitive means 'from/off' (с рабо́ты).